Abstract: The papers of Peruvian Surrealist poet and artist César Moro include notebooks, drafts of poems, manuscripts of articles,
personal diaries, exhibition catalogs, photographs, and correspondence with a number of other artists of the era, including
André Coyné, Benjamin Péret, Paul Eluard, Leonora Carrington, Wolfgang Paalen, and Rufino Tamayo. Also included are two collages
by Moro, a watercolor by Alice Rahon [Paalen], an etching by Wolfgang Paalen, and several works by mentally ill patients at
the Hospital Larco Herrera, where Moro taught. The collection also includes books and journals from Moro's personal library.

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Language: Collection material is in Spanish and French.

Biographical/Historical Note

César Moro was born Alfredo Quíspez Asín on August 19, 1903 in Lima, Peru. He changed his name in 1923 to that of a character
in a story by Gomez de la Serna. Two years later he joined his older brother in Paris, where he intended to become a ballet
dancer, but instead began writing poetry in French and painting, both activities influenced by the Surrealist movement. During
his time in Paris he participated in exhibitions and published poems in Surrealist publications. He also met and began long
friendships with other artists, including Benjamín Péret, Paul Éluard, and André Breton.

Moro returned to Lima in 1933, where he continued to write and paint, and established a museum and taught art classes for
the mentally ill at the Hospital Larco Herrera. He also began a long friendship and collaboration with Emilio Westphalen soon
after his return to Peru. In 1935 Moro organized the first Surrealist Exposition in South America but had to leave Peru in
1938 after he and Westphalen published and distributed a clandestine pamphlet in support of the Spanish Republic. He claimed
political asylum in Mexico, where he lived for the next ten years.

During his time in Mexico Moro wrote for various publications and co-organized the 1940 Exposición Internacional del Surrealismo
along with André Breton and Wolfgang Paalen, which gathered works by Pablo Picasso, Agustín Lazo, and Salvador Dalí, among
others. Moro also began new friendships with artists including Xavier Villaurrutia, Remedios Varo, and Leonora Carrington.
In 1942 Moro published
Lettre d'amour, a long poem in French. In 1943 he published his first book of poems,
Le Château de Grisou.

In 1944 Moro broke with the Surrealist movement, and Breton in particular, but he continued to maintain friendships with other
Surrealists living in the Americas. He also became close to Mexican artists in the Contemporaneo group, particularly Rufino
Tamayo and Xavier Villaurrutia. Moro returned to Lima in 1948, where he dedicated himself to teaching at the Alianza Francesa
and the Colegio Militar Leoncio Prado. He died in 1956.

The archive was first processed and described in 1998. Jennifer Osorio reprocessed it and wrote a new finding aid in 2006
under the supervision of Jocelyn Gibbs. Andra Darlington revised the finding aid in 2009.

Scope and Content of Collection

The César Moro papers consist primarily of personal documents, manuscripts, and correspondence from 1925 to Moro's death in
1956. The dates of the collection encompass Moro's years in Paris from 1925 to 1933, his work in Lima in the 1930s, his ten
years of political asylum in Mexico from 1938 to 1948, and his final eight years back in Lima.

Moro's papers provide insight into the Surrealist and avant-garde movements in Europe and Latin America over three decades.
His correspondence with other Surrealist artists offers a glimpse into Moro's interpersonal relationships before, during and
after World War II; of particular interest is his rocky relationship and eventual break with André Breton and Surrealism.
Moro's published and unpublished manuscripts, personal library, and collected manuscripts and artwork by mentally ill patients
at the Hospital Larco Herrera illustrate his artistic and literary interests.

The correspondence, manuscripts, and printed matter are supplemented by several pieces of artwork, including two collages
by Moro that were exhibited in Europe, and by personal photographs of Moro, his friends and family.

Arrangement note

Papers are organized in six series:
Series I. Official papers, 1943-1948;
Series II. Manuscripts and diaries, 1925-1959;
Series III. Artwork, undated;
Series IV. Correspondence, 1930-1955;
Series V. Photographs, 1925-1960;
Series VI. Printed matter, 1926-1987

Indexing Terms

Subjects - Names

Moro, César, d. 1956

Villaurrutia, Xavier, 1903-1950

Westphalen, Emilio Adolfo, 1911-

Subjects - Topics

Art and mental illness

Art, Latin America--20th century

Art, Modern--20th century

Artists--Latin American

Art-Latin America-20th Century

Poetry

Poets--Political and social views

Surrealism

Surrealism (Literature)

Surrealism--France--Exhibitions

Surrealism--Latin America.

Surrealism--Mexico

Surrealism--Peru

Subjects - Titles

Lettres D'AmourLos anteojos de azufreTrafalgar Square

Genres and Forms of Material

Artists' books

Collages

Correspondence, personal

Diaries

Drawings (visual works)

Etchings

Exhibition catalogs

Manuscripts for publication

Official documents

Photographic prints

Photographs, Original

Printed ephemera

Watercolors

Contributors

Breton, André, 1896-1966

Carrington, Leonora, 1917-

Coyné, André, 1927-

Eluard, Paul, 1895-1952

Paalen, Wolfgang, 1907-

Péret, Benjamin, 1899-1959

Rahon, Alice, 1916-

Tamayo, Rufino, 1899-1991

Villaurrutia, Xavier, 1903-1950

Westphalen, Emilio Adolfo, 1911-

Container List

Series I.
Official papers,1943-1948

Physical Description:
1 folder

Scope and Content Note

Various items relating to immigration matters and biographical notes.

Box 1, Folder 1

Mexican identification card,ca. 1943

Physical Description:
1.0 item

Box 1, Folder 1

Letters relating to Moro's immigration to Mexico,1945

Physical Description:
4.0 items

Box 1, Folder 1

Vaccination and veterinary documents,1948

Physical Description:
6.0 items

Box 1, Folder 1

Letter from Peruvian embassy to the Compania Mexicana de Avaiacion instructing the airline to not charge Moro for his return
to Peru,
1948

Manuscripts of the mentally ill patients at Hospital Larco Herrera,undated

Physical Description:
12.0 items

Series III.
Artwork,undated

Physical Description:
3 folders

Scope and Content Note

Original collages by Moro, artwork by Alice Rahon [Paalen] and Wolfgang Paalen, and drawings by the patients at the Hospital
Larco Herrera.

Box 1, Folder 11

Original etching for "Lettre D'Amour," by Alice Rahon [Paalen],circa 1942

Physical Description:
1.0 item

Scope and Content Note

See also Series II. Manuscripts for original manuscript and cover collage.

Box 1, Folder 10

Original collages by Moro,undated

Physical Description:
2.0 items

Box 1, Folder 11

Print by Wolfgang Paalen, numbered 22/50,undated

Physical Description:
1.0 item

Box 1, Folder 12

Artwork by mentally ill patients at Hospital Larco Herrera,undated

Physical Description:
9.0 items

Series IV.
Correspondence,1930-1955

Physical Description:
6 folders

Scope and Content Note

Letters and postcards to Moro from various correspondents, mostly artists and poets in the Surrealist movement, including
Paul Eluard, Maurice Henry, Benjamin Péret, Marie Laure de Noailles, Marcel Raymond, Rufino Tamayo, Wolfgang Paalen, and Lenora
Carrington. Also includes two postcards from Moro to others. Arranged chronologically.

Box 1, Folder 13-16

Letters,1930-1949

Physical Description:
25.0 items

Box 1, Folder 13

1930-1934

Physical Description:
7.0 items

Box 1, Folder 14

1936-1940

Physical Description:
5.0 items

Box 1, Folder 15

1944-1946

Physical Description:
6.0 items

Box 1, Folder 16

1947-1949

Physical Description:
7.0 items

Box 1, Folder 17-18

Letters and postcards,1951-1955, undated

Physical Description:
21.0 items

Series V.
Photographs,1925-1960

Physical Description:
4 folders

Scope and Content Note

Personal photographs of friends and family, architectural photographs, and images of artwork by others

Box 1, Folder 19

Personal,circa 1925-1948

Physical Description:
21.0 items

Box 1, Folder 20

Bajado de los Banos, Barranco,circa 1951

Physical Description:
7.0 items

Box 1, Folder 21

La Lima de Móro, photographs by Andre Coyné,circa 1948-1955

Physical Description:
22.0 items

Scope and Content Note

Taken with instructions from Móro

Box 1, Folder 22

Images of artwork by others,undated

Physical Description:
22.0 items

Series VI.
Printed matter,1926-1987

Physical Description:
11 boxes, 1 flat file folder

Scope and Content Note

Series includes exhibition catalogs, newspaper clippings, and published articles, books and journals. Some of the books and
journals may eventually be transferred to the general collection of the Getty Research Library.